SENATOBIA - She still has several games left in her Northwest career, but the Lady Rangers celebrated guard Morgan Hodum on Saturday's Sophomore Day with a solid 69-50 triumph against Northeast.

Hodum played a pivotal role in the Lady Rangers' postseason run last season, which culminated in a 17-10 overall record and a runner-up finish in the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament. The Kossuth native has spent most of her time as a key reserve, averaging 4.5 points so far in her career. 

In the win against Northeast, Hodum finished with six points, four rebounds and three assists, as the Lady Rangers improved to 4-2 on the season. The loss dropped the Lady Tigers to 1-5 overall.

Tierra Trotter opened the game with a quick three and a trio of layups from I'Yana Ragin made it a 9-1 advantage for Northwest. 

Kolten Blakeney's jumper at the midway point of the first quarter helped the Lady Rangers stretch their lead to 15-4, but a three-minute scoring drought allowed Northeast to close the gap to 15-8.

Leading 17-10 after the first quarter of action, the Lady Rangers opened the second with back-to-back three-pointers from Hodum and Ragin. However, Northwest once again fell victim to a four-minute scoreless streak, allowing the Lady Tigers to claw back within six, 23-17.

Hodum ended the drought in an emphatic way, sinking another three off an assist from Trotter and the Lady Rangers followed with Trotter three-pointer off a feed from Hodum, sparking Northwest to a 13-6 stretch to end the first half.

Northwest led by double figures for nearly the entire second half and a fastbreak jumper from Trotter at the 6:56 mark put the Lady Rangers up by a 20-point margin, 61-41.

Trotter led all scorers with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Ragin accounted for 12 Northwest points. Blakeney also finished with her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

In addition, Sha'Kirria Everett also posted 10 points for her third double-digit performance of the season.

As a team, Northwest shot 40 percent from the floor and 36 from three-point range. The Lady Rangers also finished with 17 points off the bench and 15 second chance points.

For Northeast, the Lady Tigers shot 30 percent and were outscored 24-16 in the paint. Dekenzie Sharp and Shandrea Watson led Northeast with 11 points apiece, followed by 10 from Cathy Burse, who also led with nine rebounds.

Northwest will host its second consecutive home game on Monday, March 1 against Coahoma. Tipoff is set for 6 P.M. with broadcast and live stats links on nwccrangers.com.